Doe and Doe v. Withers IDELR224
Doe and Doe v. Withers IDELR224
This is a BAD case. This is what happens when a teacher refuses to follow an IEP. A learning disabled high school student had an IEP that specified that all tests needed to be given orally. The tests were supposed to be read to the student by a learning support teacher. One teacher refused, and in the course of a semester, administered nine different written tests to the student, in direct violation of the IEP, and in direct violation of the directives given by his supervisors. All of the other subject area teachers met with the parents and followed the IEP, but the history teacher did not. It is believed that he was away hunting during the time when he would have met the parents to discuss the needs of the student. The student, as a direct result of the teacher’s failure to administer oral tests, failed a semester of history. When a substitute teacher took over, and complied with the IEP the following semester, the student’s grades shot up. In addition to the embarrassment of failing every written test the teacher gave, the student also reported that the teacher ridiculed him during class, and that as a direct result of failing history, he was ineligible to participate in extracurricular activities in school. The principal and the superintendent were also named as defendants in this case, because they were responsible for knowing that the teacher was not following the IEP, and they did not act, or act enough, to rectify the situation. It does not state why the teacher refused to follow the IEP; but one hopes it was worth the $15,000 the court ordered him to pay as compensation to the parents.
Return to FAPE